This is a thick comic/magazine for the $3.99 that other thinner Image comics are sold. This is a hefty creator-owned comic.This issue features two comic stories and a plump offering of extra materials. Even without a letters page, this comic packs in interviews and cos-play inspiration. The material is far from supplemental but has the feel of the bonus material included in a trade collection. This similar to the behind the scene material that David Mack included with the Reflections title of his Kabuki series, yet the difference is here the comics are more than sketches.

TriggerGirl6 by Jimmy Palmotti, Justin Gray, and Phil Noto is a female assassin story. At the start this seems similar to Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse with a female sleeper obviously conditioned to kill. This story has an action packed kill story without a lot of back story. It is an explosive start.

American Muscleby Steve Niles and Kevin Mellon is a self-aware genre comic. Fast cars and dying is easy in this post-apocalyptic tale. The world ended as the human body began to break down but the human condition crumbled even faster.

Bonus Features:

Interview with Neil Gaiman

Jimmy Palmiotti column, fav movies, etc.

Justin Gray column

Steve Bunche’s exploration of the creator-owned concept

Steve Niles column and muscle car exploration

Bill Tortolini exploring the cover

Seth Kushner’s profile

Pictures from the convention table

This is styled after a Amazing Fantasy style comic from Marvel with several comics and other components. However, this is much more than that.

I can say unabashedly that this is the longest $3.99 read that I bought this week. I’m still reading some of the interviews and other text pieces leisurely.